Forest Gardening - Edinburgh weekend

Forest gardening is an increasingly popular approach to growing food sustainably and efficiently through making use of the beneficial relationships abounding in a healthy ecosystem, maximising the use of the garden’s vertical dimension, and increasing the range of perennial food plants to fill all available ecological niches.

This two-day course will introduce you to the forest gardening approach and its benefits, teaching you the basics of designing a forest garden, and the methods of establishing and maintaining it, whether you are converting an existing garden or allotment, want to grow more edible species in a forest, or are starting with a blank canvas. You will also get an overview of the wide variety of trees, shrubs and perennial vegetables that can be grown for food, fibre, dyes, medicines, fuel, and pure beauty, and learn more about their needs and requirements.

The course will include a practical design element to train you in observation, mapping, and designing a forest garden, and will look at example designs. If you have an ongoing or planned project which involves creating a forest garden, the course will offer some opportunity for discussion, so do bring along your maps and plans.

Your teacher will be Nenya Milne, an Edinburgh-based Permaculture designer, teacher and gardener with a special interest in Forest Gardening and unusual edible plants. Nenya has been practising Permaculture and Forest Gardening since 2010, and teaching since 2015. You can see her work on her website perennis.weebly.com.